Mel Karmazin is sexy enough to run Hulu

Commentary: SiriusXM’s Karmazin needs a job now

JonFriedman

Mel Karmazin would be a great candidate to run Hulu, writes Jon Friedman.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — It sounds like a match made in media heaven: SiriusXM Radio’s dynamic and departing Chief Executive Mel Karmazin running Hulu.

The video-streaming company, whose parents include News Corp.
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Walt Disney Co.
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and Comcast/NBCUniversal
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needs a charismatic CEO who can confer a dose of sex appeal on to the brand and give it a greater identity.

Presumably, someone with a track record as distinguished as that of Karmazin — who co-founded Infinity Broadcasting and served as president of CBS — could put an end to such headlines as FastCompany.com’s pronouncement last October: “Hulu Struggles to Survive the Influence of Its Parent Companies.”

Meanwhile, Karmazin could use a job. SiriusXM
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seemed like a perfect fit for him. He’s an executive who had a reputation as a high-energy boss who got results. During the reign of Karmazin, who joined the company in 2004, its subscriber rolls zoomed to 23 million from 600,000.

But the clock started ticking toward Karmazin’s exit almost from the minute that Liberty Media Corp.’s
US:LMCAD
ambitious leader John Malone made it clear that he intended to gobble up SiriusXM. Liberty Media controls nearly 50% of the satellite-radio company.

Karmazin, who likes to be his own boss and not report to anybody else, had no intention of serving as Malone’s deputy,

Another reason why Hulu could be a possible destination for Karmazin? The top job is open.

Jason Kilar, who has been with Hulu since 2007, is exiting the six-year-old company in this quarter.

What is Hulu, exactly? It is an Internet site and a subscription service that presents advertising-bolstered, on-demand streaming video of television programs, movies and new media trailers, film clips and other footage.

Questions have dogged Hulu. Could a company with so many bosses be autonomous? Should it be a free site or should people pay for some services? Would it be acquired at any point? Would there be an initial public offering ?

Karmazin may figure that Hulu would be too problematic because he would have to serve so many masters. In addition to the broadcast giants calling the shots, Providence Equity Partners has also provided funding.

Granted, Karmazin, who declined to be interviewed for this piece, would have to re-jigger his business and lifestyle priorities if he took the reins at Hulu. He is a dedicated New Yorker and Hulu happens to be based in Santa Monica, Calif.

More nettlesome, perhaps, Karmazin stressed the other day on CNBC, in an interview with David Faber, that he wanted to set his sights on running a public company, which features an independent board of directors. Uh-oh. Hulu is privately owned. Watch the CNBC video interview with Karmazin.

Still, if Karmazin concluded that Hulu represented his best — and, perhaps, last — shot at remaining in the public eye as a media-industry player, he could easily start rooting for the Los Angeles Dodgers, buy a surfboard and learn to love private ownership.

The upside is that Hulu has exactly what Karmazin wants in a company. He told CNBC this week that he craves a “fun and challenging” management prospect that offers him the “autonomy” he demands.

Karmazin “is known as a tough business leader who understands the media platforms,” said Michael Holland, who runs an investment company in New York and has followed Karmazin’s career for a long time.

If Karmazin is considering Hulu, or any other company, right now, he is keeping his cards close to the vest. “I truly can’t come up with one” target, he added on CNBC.

Well, I can. Some inveterate Karmazin watchers, who knew him back when he was the president of CBS in 1999, think the Hulu scenario has some potential.

He is known as a champion for new ideas and for creating new paths, and finding new ways to use old media.

Originally, NBC and News Corp. (MarketWatch’s parent company) joined forces to devise a video portal that could draw eyeballs away from Google’s popular YouTube. Then Disney jumped in.

Of course, Karmazin has been around long enough to have a contingency plan in place. I wouldn’t be surprised if he joined a radio company like Pandora Media Inc.
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, because this medium is in his blood.

But he might have to go in a completely different direction.

He told Faber that if he couldn’t get a suitable position in the media industry, he’d want to reach out to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and offer to supervise the post-Hurricane Sandy clean-up of the Jersey Shore.

Think about it. The explosive Karmazin reporting to the combustible Christie? The sparks would likely fly and the press would have a field day covering the fireworks.

Now, that’s a match made in media heaven.

MEDIA WEB QUESTION OF THE DAY: Could Mel Karmazin potentially flourish at Hulu?

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